Now, if you’ve noticed that there’s a certain amount of reprehension in my approach to tackling this rumour, let me clarify — it’s by design. With all due respect to Bruins Stats, he’s not exactly someone I would consider a source for sensitive information like this. It’s not just a lack of checkmark; I’d honestly never crossed paths with this person previously.

For me, it’s a rumour, not a report given all the facts on the ground.

Operating with what we think we might know, though, it’s an interesting nugget of potentially valuable information. Schaller is 27-years-old and played his last two seasons with the Bruins, primarily on their fourth-line. He’s something of a late-bloomer, having established himself as an NHL regular in his age 26-season as a Bruin after two seasons spent bouncing between the AHL and the pros with the Buffalo Sabres.

As one might imagine for a player with that profile, Schaller’s not earning his paycheque as a scorer — not in the NHL, nor any of the junior leagues he played in en route. Schaller’s two-way profile suggests his team consistently leaves in the black, or close to, by shot attempts and expected goals — goals, not so much, but that is likely a byproduct of his poor on-ice shooting percentage of 6.5% as much as anything else.

You might hear that Schaller is a good penalty killer, too, but I wouldn’t invest myself too heavily in that. His impact on his teammates’ ability to limit shots, goals, expected goals, you name it, on the penalty kill is decidedly negative over the last three seasons. Schaller can kill penalties, yes, but whether he does it well is another thing entirely.

5 Comments |

I didn’t know much about Schaller, and didn’t learn that much here, JD…….I had to look him up to find out he’s a 6’2″, 210lb center, best year 12-10-22 in 82 games last year. 7-7-14 in 59 the year before, barely any NHL action before that.

He doesn’t sound like a great addition, but he can actually holld down a job with a good team, so that’s something. I don’t mind the overpay, I am with most fans and analysts who agree with the Canucks doing this to keep the term short. With our cap space, any deal under 2 million is not a concern. Seems like a signing that would be safe, no jubilation and no hand-wringing, which is not a bad thing.